Daybook 4/21/13

FOR TODAY

Outside my window... it is dark - time for bed

I am thinking... I miss writing, and like the idea of doing this again - but different

I am thankful... for my husband

In the kitchen... Fletcher is eating a snack, when he should be asleep

I am wearing...pink polka dotted PJ pants, black shirt and comfy gray sweater

I am creating... things for Alyssa's shower

I am going... to bed soon

I am wondering... what makes me like this daybook thing so much, but I do!

I am reading... The Promise of Stardust - for book club. Really enjoying it!

I am hoping... clarity, direction, peace

I am looking forward to... sleep

I am learning - many things - it is one of those times of life when you are rediscovering what is valuable to you

Around the house... i notice that there are several piles that I need to go through

I am pondering...

A favorite quote for today... listen to the right voices to make the right choices

One of my favorite things... seeing friends and a good book

A few plans for the rest of the week: call my Dad for his birthday tomorrow, homeschool, maybe get my nails done with Pam Swift, get ready for Alyssa's shower

A peek into my day... breakfast, school, must work out...


http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/ 

Caretakers

made a notebook for caretaker

List pills and have a photo - dated, any pertinent info - to crush or not to crush
Schedules
Detailed schedule
contacts
meals

schedules

Quality of life
Get up
Get dresssed
eat
walk

Routines are very valuable. She gets lost without them.

hallucinations

My mom started having hallucinations early on. People walking in the room, sounds, doorbells, animals making a nest, helicopters landing on the driveway, girls playing basketball. They slowed down after we started Aricpept and seem to happen in the afternoon or when she is drowsy.

They started back up. In her house she sees snakes. Rattlesnakes. she says she can smell them. My Dad is not good at "going along". He checked and pronounced that she was wrong. this does not go over well.

Rats in Colorado. I kill them, my husband kills them, we let the kids take turns killing them. Eases her mind. ANy wrinkle or bump in the bed is suspect. Check, double check, take concerns seriously. Ask her not to mention the rats to neighbors.

Maybe since I mentioned that we could get her a prescription to medical marijuana in Colorado, she smells it. She is embarrased someone is cooking it upstairs (do you cook marijuana?)

The Help

Start praying now for a good helper. Words of advice.

safe, secure, like them, honest!

Food

I am sitting here trying to figure out meals. Here are the main concerns with Alzheimer's - food, clothing and security. Isn't it interesting that at the end of your life we go back to the basics. And food in my parents house is a big concern.

At the beginning, before my Dad realized that she couldn't cook - this took him longer to understand then you would believe. And before she had help everyday, she would just tell me she was hungry all the time. She was not starving - because my petitie, delicate mother who always felt overweight when the scale went above 112, had gained 70 pounds. So we knew she was eating. But she would eat whatever was easy to access or was sweet. We would walk in to find a whole pan of brownies had disappeared. She would eat standing up and not realize that she had eaten anything at all. And instead of eating anything that would fill her stomach with substance - she just ate what was easiest and met any craving.

Next we hired Amazing Grace. Grace was a loving and gentle refugee who had recently moved here from Uganda. My mom loved Grace. She was lively and kind. But Grace cooked for an army and always cooked rice. Lots and lots of rice. Several Cups of rice each day. She even bought a large rice cooker. Unfortunately, my parents hate rice. My dad, the other stomach in the house - and the stomach that does the hiring and firing, was not impressed. He fired Grace.

Mirna is our fabulous, beloved maid from Mexico. I think MIrna is great. My mom loves Mirna. Mirna was an answer to my prayers - she cleans, bathes my mom, dresses her and they laugh and enjoy each other. And she cooks rice. Lots of rice. My parents hate rice. I was just sitting here trying to translate cranberry Chicken Salad from English to Spanish.

We added Meals on Wheels. It is a GREAT program. Sometimes they little happy smiles and faces talk to my mom and cheer her up. What a great program! Unfortunately, even though the meals are warm and healthy, mom mom does not like them. Lots of steamed broccoli. Most of the food goes to waste. The nice thing is there is always a supply of fresh milk in the fridge and sometimes I feed the leftovers to my kids and at least there is a food option, even if she choses not to eat it.

Did you hear something?

I fly in for the appointment armed with a list of questions.

I sit with my mom and probe her for a list of symptoms.

All of a sudden, peculiar things from the past become clear.

After Christmas she called to say there was a rat sitting on the couch. I have never seen an actual rat in my parent's house - but they live on 13 acres - so it would not be shocking. She told me how she sat there and watched it sunning on the back of the sofa for hours.

Another day she called my brother at work. There was an animal making a nest in the living room. She has a beautiful tall bookcase in a corner and this black animal was weaving some type of nest on top of the bookcase. It kept spinning. She could see it from her bedroom. Would my brother mind coming by after work to get rid of the animal. She didn't seem scared.

Occasionally my mom would mention strange sounds or hear something hiding in her closet or feel like there was a person in her house. Sometimes the doorbell would ring - but when she went to answer it - there was no one there. None of us really took it seriously, and maybe that is part of the problem - that this quirky part of her personality did not seem to concern us.

And once - a mentally handicapped man from a nearby neighborhood actually did walk into her house - he was walking upstairs when my sister-in-law walked into him. Lucky guy - he was not harmed. My sister can shoot a rifle better then most men - and after serving in the military, she would have no problem defending her family. He was fortunate there was not a gun laying around (this is in Texas). She escorted the man out and called the police. But you can see why we might think seemingly strange occurrences might actually be true.

Someone once said our house was haunted and occasionally a visitor would mention seeing a strange image upstairs - so when my mom mentioned she saw a women in a blue dress come into her room - we were not shocked. (you can go ahead an say what you are thinking - could we be anymore stupid?).

But here I am armed with a new definition.

Visual and audible hallucinations.

These new words make me feel sick. I'd rather have the ghost.